Our Community

Community sits at the very heart of the Westmorland. We want to invest in our communities for future generations. We look to work with organisations and projects that are geographically local to us and our colleagues’ communities, focusing our efforts on supporting young people with an emphasis on food and enterprise.

Since 2014, we have been able to support local organisations and projects through our community partnerships, foyer and till collections, our 5p bag charge and our unique partnership with Gloucestershire Gateway Trust.

Every penny you drop into our collection boxes and spend in our Services makes a huge difference to the lives of those in our communities, enabling us to continue to support the vital work of our partners.

This could not be done without the generosity of you, our customers and the hard work of our colleagues. Thank you for your ongoing support.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE GATEWAY TRUST

Westmorland and Gloucestershire Gateway Trust came together thanks largely to the Trust’s CEO, Mark Gale. Mark approached Westmorland with the idea of creating a motorway service area on the land they had acquired with the help of the Tudor Trust and Summerfield Trust. Mark Gale and the Trust’s team were dedicated to the idea of a partnership between business and charity that would provide sustainable income and vital jobs for the local communities they worked within.

The partnership between business and charity was formed to bring the project forward, with the Trust becoming a registered charity in 2011. The partnership enables us to donate a percentage of our sales, excluding fuel, each year back into the community. However, it is not just about charitable donations; it is a more fundamental way of connecting business and community for the benefit of both.

2017 marked the 10th anniversary of Gloucestershire Gateway Trust. Each of the six local charity partners received grants directly from Gloucester Services profits. The promise of a guaranteed annual income from Gloucestershire Gateway Trust and Gloucester Services partnership will enable the charities to plan ahead and continue their vital work.

NORTHBOUND GROWING COMMUNITIES PROJECT

The Growing Communities project is run by our charity partner, Gloucestershire Gateway Trust. The project gives local, unemployed people the opportunity to gain practical skills as well as the experience of working in a team, helping them to find jobs in the future as a result.

Over 1,000 trees have been planted on the site including traditional Gloucestershire fruit trees and an orchard. In the future, the area will be a meadow and orchard area that visitors and local people will be able to enjoy.

5p BAG CHARGE

When the government introduced new legislation on reducing plastic bag usage across the country, we introduced a 5p bag charge across all our businesses. Our bags were already reusable, but we were keen to support the environmental benefits that reducing plastic waste encourages. We have been able to support a wide variety of local organisations and projects with the money raised.

WILDLIFE SPOTTER SHEET

We've been working with Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust to create our Wildlife Spotter Sheet to help you identify species around Gloucester Services. Find them in our children's play areas or download one here.